I was surrounded by wild coast, countryside and forest, rich with the herbs and botanicals that I knew would make a gin like no other. It has become my passion to showcase adventurous foraged flavours that reconnect you with nature one sip at a time. Over 24 botanicals are combined to make Slingsy Gin, including primrose, rosehip and Taylors of Harrogate Tea. The first frosts hadn’t yet arrived, so I decided to wash, and then freeze all the fruit for a later date. I had Sloe Gin on my mind, and today was the day to start preparing what I can for Christmas.

I began to gather natural, wild ingredients to tinker with and soon found a new frontier, creating uniquely ‘Sussex’ gins, good enough to sip, that captured the essence of the land and local terroir.For our classic Hedgerow Gin we use juniper berries, coriander seeds, angelica root & orris root, but then we also add locally foraged nettle leaves, rosehips, crab apples, elderflower, sloe stones and wildflower hay. The Pink Particular Gin is wonderfully aromatic with flavours of cardamon, lemon citrus and pink peppercorns. It should be served neat or with just a dash of tonic.

When I graduated with a PhD in Chemistry, I knew I wanted to put my skills to good use, but cajoling exotic and often toxic chemicals in the lab eventually lost it’s appeal. With my growing desire to work more closely with nature a new path was forged. Our flagship product is our award-winning Hedgerow Gin, which is made with a blend of locally sourced botanicals. We then take that Gin and add Sloe berries to steep for a period of months to make our fantastic Sloe Gin. Litre of Gin (use a plain or flavoured variety depending on your personal preference). Vodka can also be used as a substitution. Addingham Fruit Liqueurs is a small family run business, set up by Fiona Mann in Addingham, near Ilkley. Fiona was introduced to Sloe Gin by her late father-in-law and soon realised that you can “add any fruit to any spirit base”. After much encouragement and support from family and friends, she began experimenting with locally foraged fruits. We are very proud to have been named one of the best gin distilleries in the UK by numerous publications, including The Gin Guide. Our commitment to using foraged ingredients, eco-friendly distillation and traditional steeping methods has earned us a reputation for producing some of the best spirits in the UK.

The first batch of gin from the Harrogate Tipple Distillery was released at RHS Harlow Carr in October 2016. Originally produced in an old Smokehouse in the centre of Harrogate, Premium Harrogate Gin is now distilled at Harrogate Tipple’s new distillery on the Ripley Castle Estate. Welcome to Sloemotion Distillery, based in beautiful North Yorkshire in the UK. For 20 years we have been using locally foraged ingredients and a wealth of knowledge to create unique and flavourful gins, vodkas and liqueurs that are loved by drinks enthusiasts across the country.

We often talk about terroir when it comes to wines – that undefinable sense of place that you can taste with a sip, but can the concept apply to a home-grown spirit such as gin? 'Grapes have been cultivated and domesticated over thousands of years to the point where varieties are so consistent that factors in the terroir are important' explains Mike. 'In contrast to wine, gin and sloe gin are relatively modern products and have not had the same cultural processing! The grains used to make the spirit and the botanicals are so commoditised that for a small business like us it's hard to take control. So, we can only really talk about the terroir of our hedgerow botanicals used in our gin and the fruit we use to make our liqueurs.' This coincided with the birth of gin as a product and the import of cheap sugar as a result of the slave trade; giving country people the access to the three key ingredients of Sloe Gin. It also explains why the making of this deliciously warming liqueur in the home is seen as a rite of passage into country life.' The art of foraging Their more recent offering, Hedgerow Gin, is crafted in small batches and brings together the flavours of crab apple, nettle leaf, sloes, elderflowers, and rosehip. Sloemotion recommends serving this with a dash of tonic and a sprig of thyme. The York Gin Company was founded by four friends who share a love of gin and a passion for their historic city. York Gin was the very first to be distilled in the city of York and despite being on sale for just 6 months, it is one of the most popular Yorkshire gins on the Summer Tasting Menu at London Gin Club, Soho. Raisthorpe Manor were famous for their liqueurs way before they started to produce and sell their Raisthorpe Distilled Dry Gin. They made homemade Raspberry Gin Liqueur from their country kitchen and served it to guests at Raisthorpe Flyers.We are proud to be a member of the Gin Guild, an organisation that represents the highest standards of gin distillation and promotes the appreciation and knowledge of gin. Our membership in the Gin Guild is a testament to our dedication to producing the best gin possible. The botanicals used in creating Hedgerow Gin come from the hedgerows in our rural area of North Yorkshire, however they are all wild. Rosehips and crab apples are added for a mellow, fruity dryness, with elderflower and nettle leaf providing sweet floral notes. We also hand cut hay from our own species-rich 'micro-meadow' at Green Farm as well as from a local nature reserve - this had just the right composition of species to get the flavours we wanted.'